City of Lights
by EchoResonance
Summary: My next mission is in Paris, with Lavi, Lenalee...and Kanda. This trip has every possibility of turning hostile before we even SEE any Akuma. But...maybe I'll get lucky. Maybe we can use it to better understand each other, instead of just leaping for the other person's throats. No, of course I'm not talking just about Kanda! ...heh... -.-'
1. Should You Choose to Accept It

_**Alright, just so we're clear: I do NOT support Lavi x Kanda, and nowhere in this fic will there be evidence to the contrary. Lavi is being Lavi, and there is no sexual or romantic interest between the two. Jeez, I'm rather repulsed by that pairing. Lavi is way too happy and cool for Kanda **_

"Hey, Lenalee!" I called, waving to her from across the cafeteria.

She waved back with a smile and made her way around the tables to mine, sitting down gracefully beside me. All she had for lunch was a bowl of rice, and she gave my many platters of food a bemused glance.

"Are you sure you can really eat all of that?" she said doubtfully.

"You've seen me eat!" I laughed. "I'm a Parasitic-type, so of course I'm going to eat a bunch."

She giggled.

"True enough."

Five minutes later, she didn't doubt my ability to scarf down enough food to feed a baby killer whale any more.

"Were those all yours?" asked Lavi in amazement, appearing out of nowhere like he always did. I nodded and dabbed at my mouth with a napkin.

"Wow, man, you can pack it away," he chuckled. "Well, if you're done, Komui—well, Reever, technically—gave us all the day off!"

"You're serious?!" I exclaimed, leaping to me feet.

"Nope!" Lavi laughed. I glowered at him. "Komui's got his next assignment for all of us."

"Where is it?" I sighed, stacking up my empty plates. A day off sounded really nice right about now, but I should have known better than to think Komui would ever give three Exorcists the same day off.

"Paris, France," said Lavi excitedly. "The City of Love. Our flight leaves at eight tonight."

"Actually, Lavi, it's the City of Light," said Lenalee, pushing the remaining rice in her bowl around with her chopsticks. "City of Love is a common misconception."

"Whatever, it's still gonna be awesome!" Lavi sighed. "And we've got Toma as our Finder this time around."

"Great!" I said happily, beginning to stack up my numerous plates. "I missed working with Toma. The last time I was with him we were stuck with Kanda."

I shuddered, thinking of the moody, borderline-homicidal Exorcist. He was possibly one of the most miserable human beings to be around in the entire world.

Lavi chuckled and reached back to scratch the back of his head. I narrowed my eyes. Did he look…a little anxious?

"Come on, Allen. Yuu isn't really so bad when you get to know him," said the apprentice Bookman. "He's just a little…rough around the edges."

"Yeah, well, Kanda's made it perfectly clear that he doesn't want to get to know me, and I don't want to push myself where I'm not invited," I said with a derisive snort. "I'm just glad I haven't been put on any missions with him recently. Maybe Komui's finally taking pity on me."

Lavi's smile was extremely forced, and I could see his right eye twitching slightly.

"Lavi, what is it?" Lenalee asked, seeing the boy's very obvious discomfort.

"Well…ahah…y'see…" Lavi mumbled.

I heaved a loud sigh.

"Kanda's coming with us, isn't he?" I guessed.

Lavi deflated, his hand falling back to his side.

"I—yeah, he's coming," he gave in.

"That's right, and you'd better not get in my way, Bean Sprout," growled a low, resonant voice.

I didn't even bother to turn around and see who it was. I knew already it was the tall, perpetually scowling Equipment Exorcist. You know, the one with the long, iridescent black hair that looked blue sometimes, and the sword strapped to his side?

"That's your problem, Kanda," I sighed. "You don't know how to work on a team. Everyone else had just better not bother you."

"I don't need a lecture from a cursed little boy," sneered the swordsman.

"Hey! Cool it, Kanda," said Lenalee sharply.

I stood abruptly, not because of Kanda's words, but because I found that I was really tempted to continue arguing with him, and that wouldn't get us anywhere productive.

"I'm going to go to my room," I told Lavi and Lenalee. "I'll catch up with you guys a little later, okay?"

Lenalee and Lavi both blinked in surprise.

"Y-yeah, okay," she said, tone confused.

I heard Lavi reprimand Kanda behind me as I walked away.

"C'mon, Yuu, not cool—"

His words were cut off abruptly and followed by a loud crash. It was probably Kanda sending Lavi flying into one of the walls, or maybe just a table, for calling him by his real name.

"_Don't_ call me that," Kanda snapped.

_Hypocrite_, I thought to myself.

I didn't hate Kanda. Far from it. But I didn't particularly like him either. He was such an angry, moody person, that it was hard to stay upbeat around him. It was almost impossible to work with him as a team because of that thing he said earlier: _"Don't get in my way."_ He really wouldn't _let_ anyone work with him, that's just how he was.

"Plus," I muttered. "He calls me Bean Sprout."

My room wasn't far from the cafeteria, and I made it there quickly. The plain white door stuck a little, like it always did, but I easily pushed it open, stepping into my room and letting it swing quietly shut behind me. It was nothing fancy, my room. Plain white walls, thick carpet, a small desk and wooden chair, and a twin bed with gray blankets. There was still that poster of the creepy-looking guy standing in front of a dark moon by my bed. Other than that, the walls were bare. I had kept the area pretty neat for the most part, largely due to the fact that I didn't spend a whole lot of time in my room, but I had left my own little touches here and there. One of my socks that had no partner was lying at the foot of my bed. A throw blanket had been added to my boring bedclothes, woven with brightly colored thread. Lenalee had given it to me. There was also a rectangular silver picture frame on the windowsill. The photo in it was of Lavi, Lenalee, and myself on our last mission together. We'd been in Venice, Italy, and had taken it on a gondola. You could see other little boats in the background. I was in the middle, with Lavi on my left and Lenalee on my right. Lavi had one arm slung across my shoulders, and was holding up two fingers on his other hand, grinning like a maniac. Lenalee was smiling cutely, her hands clasped behind her.

I loved those two. They were the first real friends I had ever had, and I didn't know what I would do without them. We'd all come from similar pasts, and they didn't look strangely at my left arm, the way so many others had. They understood it, and accepted it. I had only felt that way twice before: with my adopted father, Mana, and my mentor General Marian Cross. And honestly, Cross scared me. The only thing that worried me was that, like both Cross and Mana, I might lose Lavi and Lenalee the same way.

A quiet knock pulled me from my train of thought.

"Allen?" It was Lenalee. "Can I come in?"

"Sure. The door's open!" I called to her, setting the picture frame back on the window sill.

I heard the creaking noise as the door was swung open, followed by soft, muffled footsteps on the carpet.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine," I said, surprised. "Why?"

She clasped her hands in front of her and shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"I don't know…You just seemed kind of upset when you left."

My lips curved up in a smile.

"Nah, Lenalee, I'm fine. I've learned to just ignore Kanda," I told her with a chuckle. She gave a small smile.

"That's good," she answered.

Then she just stood there, not saying anything, still shuffling her feet. The silence grew increasingly awkward, and I got the feeling that there was something else Lenalee wanted to say, but she wasn't quite sure how to say it. I crossed the short distance between us, and set my hands on her shoulders. She looked up at me quickly, startled, and saw me smiling gently.

"Lenalee, you can tell me anything you want," I told her. "I promise."

She smiled, and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by my bedroom door flying open once more and slamming into the wall.

"My darling Lenalee!" Komui squealed, barreling toward us. "Don't let those nasty boys get out of line while you're go—"

I really didn't see what happened, but I could guess. One minute Komui was sprinting for his little sister, the next he was twitching on the ground. I had never even seen or heard Lenalee activate her Dark Boots, or even seen her kick, but she had undoubtedly sent a powerful kick to her older brother's head. With a heavy sigh, Lenalee pulled Komui up by an arm and pulled it around her neck.

"I'll talk to you later then, Allen. Okay?" she said, and hauled the scientist out of my room.

"O…kay," I answered, confused.

I shook off my bemusement and turned to my wardrobe. It shouldn't be a terribly long trip, but I should still pack for the worst. Since we would have Kanda in tow, the worst case scenario would probably happen.


	2. An Alliance, or Just an Understanding?

_**There is also no romance going on between Lavi and Lenalee. They're just good friends and partners that can rely on each other for anything**_

It would be about a four hour train ride to get to Paris from the nearest train station, but it would probably feel like twice that because of Kanda and his too-good-for-you attitude.

"C'mon, guys, this'll be fun!" exclaimed Lavi, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

He tried to do the same to Kanda with his other arm, but almost immediately found a sword at his throat. I rolled my eyes as Lavi gulped, instead throwing his arm around Lenalee, who laughed. Kanda shook his head and preceded us onto the train.

"That guy needs a sense of humor," I muttered.

"No kidding," sighed Lavi. "Oh, well. Best get on, before the train leaves."

The inside of the train was warm and well-lit by gently burning lanterns. Inside various first-class apartments I could make out the soft glow of more lanterns, and further back, passengers sat in the admittedly comfy seats in coach. Kanda poked his head outside of our compartment, scowling. Well, he was perpetually scowling, but it looked deeper right then.

"Are you all coming or not?" he snapped, then withdrew into the room again.

I shook my head and gestured for Toma to go first, but he shook his head. I resisted the urge to smack myself. I forgot, the Finders never rode in the compartments with the Exorcists. I didn't actually know why. I just knew that they didn't. With an apologetic smile, I took up the rear behind Lavi and Lenalee. The train was so peaceful and quiet; even the sounds of the wheels screeching along the rails was muted inside. It was so nic—

Damnit. A painful, consistent throb started in my left eye. Taken by surprise, I staggered into the side of the doorframe, vaguely hearing three of my four companions cry out. I clapped my hand to it, swearing loudly as I felt it shift form until it was like a monocle. Shit. Shit shit shit. An Akuma was on the train.

I tore my hand away from my eye, whipping around to scan the hallway. There was something in the direction of the other passengers, but it wasn't the only one I was sensing. So there were more near the front of the train. I turned, and almost ran into an Akuma. It was only a level one, disguised as a pretty, smiling attendant. It wasn't the only Akuma there, but it was the only level one.

"Allen!" Lenalee said, leaping out into the hall. Lavi was right behind her. I even heard Kanda stand and move into the doorway.

"Bean Sprout! What are you—" he spat, but cut off abruptly.

Instead of leaving in the form of insulting words, his breath whooshed out of his lungs in one loud exhalation. He'd never seen through my eye before, I realized. Neither had Lenalee, as evidenced by her startled gasp. Lavi had seen it before, but the ill look on his face said he still didn't like it.

The Akuma's imprisoned soul, bound to the body and forced to obey the Earl of the Millennium's demands. It wasn't a pretty sight, but one that I had grown quite accustomed to. Silently I activated my Anti Akuma weapon, and it speared straight through the level one before it could even transform.

"Are there others?" asked Lavi shortly.

"Three more. Level two, all of them," I answered. "Two in the passengers' car, and another one up front. Probably hidden as a different attendant."

"We'll take the two in the back," said Lenalee, catching Lavi's arm and hurrying down the passageway.

"That leaves you and me," I said to Kanda.

"Great. Just the way I wanted to start this trip," grumbled the swordsman. Either he had recovered from the shock of seeing the Akuma's soul, or he was damn good at hiding it. Both options were highly likely, but my pride had me leaning toward the idea that he was just a very good actor.

"Whatever. Let's finish it," I sighed, and led the way up the hall.

We were halfway to the very front when a second attendant came out. This one, while wearing the uniform, hadn't bothered to change its body to look human. It was grotesque, like a clown costume or doll that had gone horribly awry. Its arms were different lengths, and its tongue hung out obscenely from its wide, grinning mouth. On its forehead was the pentagram that marked it as an Akuma.

"You," said the weapon, pointed one clawed hand at me. "You with the funny eye. You have a pentagram above it. Are you…"

This was no coincidence. This was a planned assault. Somebody knew that we would be on this train.

"Are you Allen Walker?"

"Bean Sprout, you're a pain in the ass to have around," snarled Kanda. I didn't bother to answer him.

Instead, I called on the Innocence. On the Crown Clown.

"What the Hell—" said the swordsman. I winked at him, and if it was possible, his scowl deepened. "Whatever."

He lunged forward, raising his sword into the air. His Mugen slashed a graceful arc through the air and…and nothing. All it hit was air. The Akuma had been fast enough even to dodge one of Kanda's attacks. That was something I had never seen before. But nothing could yet outrun the Crown Clown.

One minute the Akuma was lunging. The next? He was nothing but a memory. I watched as yet another Akuma soul was released from its prison and set free into the next world.

"What the _Hell_ was that?" Kanda demanded. "How did it dodge my attack?"

I snorted.

"Speed was probably one of the abilities that particular level two developed. They aren't all as slow as that Noah…Skin was his name, right?"

Kanda glowered.

"And what did you do? Since when did you Innocence look like some kind of clown?"

A bark of brash laughter escaped me.

"Since I almost died and it almost disappeared. I couldn't reconnect with it until I understood its true form. What you saw was the Crown Clown."

Kanda blinked.

"The Crown…Clown?" he repeated. "That has got to be the most stupid name I have ever heard!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Kanda. The Crown Clown just killed what your sword didn't even touch and released the Akuma's soul."

Kanda's right eye began to twitch. Then it stilled, and he straightened up.

"The Akuma's soul. That's what I saw."

I blinked, then nodded.

"Yeah."

"Why did I see that thing? I thought you were the only one that could see those demons, because of that cursed eye of yours. Plus, before, your eye just turned red, but this time it's like you were wearing some kind of lens."

The venom in his voice couldn't quite hide his curiosity. I had to fight a derisive laugh.

"Yeah, well, my curse got stronger. When Lavi and I were at Krory's castle, and the Akuma Eliade attacked me, for some reason my eye responded. It's almost like it evolved, like an Akuma would. Now anybody near me sees the souls, like I always have."

Kanda was silent for a long minute, his dark eyes staring at me. There was something in those eyes that I couldn't quite place. Not compassion. No, definitely not that, but something…

The screams of the passengers in the back signaled that Lavi and Lenalee had probably killed their Akuma, and seemed to disrupt whatever train of thought had been going through Kanda's head.

"I'm going back to the compartment. Come or don't, I don't care," he grumbled, and walked away, sheathing his sword.

I sighed and shook my head, following the Equipment Exorcist back to our little room.

….

Lavi had fallen asleep almost the moment he sat down, and Lenalee didn't last much longer. Kanda and I were the only ones awake, sitting as far away from each other as possible on the same bench. He was staring out of the window with his chin resting on his hand, and I sat quietly with my own fingers folded neatly in my lap, my gloves hiding the scarlet skin of my left hand. I didn't like the quiet anymore, but talking to Kanda was a total last resort, because to break the silence in exchange for anything that _he_ had to say would just be begging for trouble. So, I was more than a little surprised when he was the one to speak.

"Who did you turn into an Akuma?"

"Huh?" I asked, startled.

"Who. Did. You. Turn. Into. An. Akuma?" he enunciated every syllable very clearly, as though I didn't understand English. "They gave you that eye, right?"

"My adoptive father Mana," I said shortly. "And yeah, he gave me this eye."

"What…what happened?" It sounded as though his curiosity literally pained him.

"I never knew my real parents. I was an outcast because of my arm. Mana was the first one to accept me, arm and all. He took me in and raised me like his own son. It felt like only days later, though it was years, that he was killed in a carriage crash. The Earl found me at Mana's grave, and offered to bring him back. I took the chance, and Mana came back as an Akuma. He cursed me with this eye. Then, before he could kill me, my arm acted of its own accord, transforming and ending him. After that, Master Cross found me."

"And that eye…"

"It shows me the tortured souls of Akuma."

"You see those every day?"

"See what?"

"The Akuma souls, dumbass," he snapped. My eye twitched in frustration.

"Yeah. They're there with every Akuma."

Again there was silence. Then—

"I think…I don't give you enough credit."

I whipped my head around to look at him in shock. His face was twisted, his expression suggesting that he had swallowed something extremely distasteful. I wasn't surprised. Saying those words out loud probably caused him physical pain.

"You're tough. Tougher than I would've expected from a bean sprout like you. You've handled a lot. I…I can…"

"Can what?" I prompted, fighting an evil grin.

"Shut up!" he snarled. Then, ground through clenched teeth, "I can respect that."

My eyebrows probably disappeared into my hair. Surely my eyes were the size of dinner plates, and I was fairly certain that my jaw had just dropped into my lap.

"Don't get any ideas. We're not friends," he said quickly. "I don't like you. I never will. I hate your type of people. All I'm saying is that I can respect what you've been through."

"Yeah," I chuckled. "Got that loud and clear."

Another moment.

"You should get some sleep," I suggested.

"Don't tell me what to do."


	3. Snow Covers Their Footprints

"Wow," Lavi breathed.

It was just past midnight when the train pulled into the station. Lavi had woken with a start when his face slid down the window at the brake, but Lenalee had already been awake for a while. To my utter astonishment, Kanda had actually dozed off against the wall of the compartment for about an hour. Now we were all standing outside in the lightly falling snow, staring at the twinkling lights of Paris, France reflecting off of the snow and ice. The Eifel Tower rose gracefully from the heart of the city, sparkling in the night. It was as though stars had fallen from the sky to instead adorn the beautiful buildings.

"It's amazing," I agreed.

Looking out over it, the title "City of Lights" was perfect, and I could not for the life of me figure out what might be a better name. It was beyond beautiful, lit up like there were thousands of fireflies.

"Yeah, yeah, it's very pretty," said Kanda dismissively. "But we're not here to sightsee, remember? We're here because Komui suspected that there might be Innocence."

"Loosen up, Yuu," Lavi said, slapping his shoulder.

Kanda turned the full power of his evil demon gaze on the apprentice Bookman, who flinched.

"Don't call me by my first name, or I swear I'll dice you into pieces."

Even Lavi, clueless though he was at times, knew that Kanda _never_ made an empty threat. He backed away slowly, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender, and hid, cowering, behind me. I rolled my eyes. Yeah, because Kanda would _really_ think twice about slicing me in half to get to Lavi.

"In the report," said Toma at my shoulder. "Komui said that he thought the Innocence might be in the Louvre. There've been several reports of paintings seemingly coming to life, but for the most part they've been written off as mass hallucinations."

"The Louvre? As in the famous art museum?" said Lavi. "Great! I'd love to see some of those painti—"

"Shut up!" Kanda snapped. "We're here to acquire the Innocence, not waste time looking at paint splatters on canvas!"

"If General Tiedoll heard you say tha—"

"I couldn't care less about that crazy old man!" shouted Kanda. Then he turned back to our finder. "Toma! Where are we staying?"

"A small inn about a mile from the Louvre," he replied.

"Let's go."

Toma took the lead, followed closely by Kanda. I shared an exasperated look with Lavi and Lenalee, shaking my head.

"He's even more grumpy when he hasn't slept much," I noted. "I didn't even know that it was _possible _for him to be more cranky."

"I heard that Bean Sprout!" the swordsman snarled. "And don't think I won't slice you to ribbons! Now move it or else we'll leave you behind!"

"We'll force him to do some sightseeing with us afterwards," Lavi vowed.

He squeezed between me and Lenalee, linking his arms through ours and towing us along as we laughed.

"I wish you the best of luck with that, Lavi," I chuckled. "Because there's no way I'm having any part in that fiasco."

Walking through Paris in the middle of the night was like entering another world. When everything was lit up, and snow was falling slowly and silently, it seemed like something out of a fairytale. A world of stars and icicles and glittering, glowing structures. I had had a snow globe once, when I was still a naïve little kid. Mana had given it to me for Christmas. Walking through Paris just then, it was as though I was inside a snow globe.

"You travelled a lot with your dad, didn't you Allen?" asked Lenalee as we walked.

"With Mana, yeah," I answered.

"Had you ever been to Paris with him?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Once. It was in the spring. All of the flowers were blooming. There were so many colors, and so many smells. The air was thick with the perfume of the flowers and the scents wafting from the bakeries and sweet shops. You couldn't go anywhere without seeing a painter capturing the essence of the city."

"It sounds amazing," she said wistfully.

"It was," I agreed, then gestured out to all the snow. "But I like it better like this. It looks like it's covered in crystal, or sugar. In the morning, the cafes will be opening up and we'll smell coffee and hot cocoa and fresh pastries. Winter makes it seem so much more…magical, I guess."

"Mm…" Lavi sighed. "Hot cocoa…"

I laughed at my friend.

"Allen, that was almost poetic," giggled Lenalee. I grinned at her.

"Just what we need. An Exorcist that can be a poet in his spare time."

"Stuff it Kanda!" I snapped. "Some people can still appreciate the little things in life!"

Our short moment of understanding on the train had apparently up and vanished into the cold midnight air. Not that I had expected anything different, honestly, but it was still nice to hope.

"Little things don't complete missions or kill Akuma!" he answered.

"No," I said quietly. "They don't. But they do make life worth living."

"Whatever."

I shook my head again.

"Hey Toma, how much farther is it?" I called.

"Not much farther, I think," he answered.

"Thank goodness," said Lenalee, tugging her coat more tightly around herself. "All this snow is freezing."

I slid my arm out of Lavi's so that I could shrug my own jacket off and hand it to her. She tried to push it back into my arms.

"No, I'll be fine until we get there," she insisted.

"I know you will," I chuckled, and wrapped my coat around her shivering shoulders. "But I bet you're warmer now, huh?"

She gave a martyred smile.

"Yeah. Thanks Allen."

"Hey, what if I was cold?" Lavi interjected, trying and failing not to smirk.

"Then you should have said something," I responded. "But I probably wouldn't have given you my jacket anyway."

"Psh, always nicer to the girls," Lavi grumbled.

"Is that a bad thing?" I laughed loudly.

"Nah, guess not," my friend joined in my mirth.

"You two are so silly!" Lenalee said.

"It's disgusting…"

"Shut up Yuu!" Lavi said. "We still know how to have fun."

The sound of a sword leaving its sheath came back to us through the still air. Hadn't Kanda said something earlier about dicing Lavi into pieces if he called him by his first name again?

"Uh…Lavi…" I said hesitantly.

The next second, the tip of Kanda's Mugen was at the apprentice Bookman's throat. Kanda glowered balefully at my friend.

"Quit calling me that," he growled.

"Hypocrite," I muttered.

"What'd you say, Bean Sprout?"

"I called you a hypocrite Kanda," I said clearly, enunciating every syllable. "You know what that is, don't you? Someone who does exactly what they tell others not to do."

"And how am I a hypocrite?"

"Well, you get pissed at Lavi just for calling you by your real name, no matter how many times you tell him not to. It's not any different than when you keep calling me Bean Sprout even though I've told you my name is _Allen_."

A tick started beneath Kanda's right eye, the way it sometimes did when he was especially irritated. For a moment, I seriously thought he might take his sword and run me through. Instead, he jammed it forcefully back into its sheath at his hip.

"Whatever," he said again. That was his favorite comeback. "I didn't want to wash a bunch of blood off of Mugen anyway."

Then he turned on his heel and stalked back to Toma, who had paused when he realized that the rest of us had stopped.

"This," I said heavily, "is going to be a very, very long trip, I think."


	4. Paintings Move Inside the Louvre

_**I may have been off on some of the architectural details of the Louvre, because I've never actually been there, but I wanted to twist it around a bit to suit the story better **_

There were a lot of people waiting to get into the Louvre Museum. A _lot_ of people. If we had been just random tourists, we would never have gotten inside the Louvre Pyramid, which served as the museum's entrance lobby. But, thank goodness, we were Exorcists, so we were allowed to bypass the throngs of people waiting to be admitted. Not that I didn't appreciate seeing the grand building or the glass pyramid, but I was about to freeze my fingers and nose off if I stayed out there much longer.

The first thing I noticed once we were inside was that the inside was still a little chilly. The paintings had to be kept at a safe, constant temperature to avoid damage. I tugged my coat more tightly around my shoulders, feeling goosebumps pop up on the back of my neck. That couldn't be just the temperature, could it? Maybe…Could my body have been reacting to the Innocence nearby? Certainly, the air felt different. Almost charged, as though with electric energy.

I followed the other two, catching the collar of Lavi's coat before he disappeared after a group of French girls.

"They're totally my type!" he exclaimed.

"If it's _female_ it's your type!" sighed Lenalee in exasperation.

I had to agree with her. It wasn't like Lavi's standards were set particularly high, after all. The first time I remember him saying just that, he was making goo-goo eyes at an Akuma named Eliade. After that, he fell head over heels for a woman of the Noah Clan. And I was pretty sure that he had a thing for Lenalee as well, though I couldn't dispute his taste there. So, all in all, he was something of a hopeless, hormonal eighteen year old.

"So now what?" I asked.

"Now we wait," replied Kanda, moving swiftly through the crowd toward the staircase that would lead us up into the main building. We followed him, me and Lenalee literally dragging Lavi away.

"Wait for what?" I wondered. "Are we just gonna stand around until someone shrieks that the—"

"The paintings are moving!"

We all looked at each other, bemused.

"That…was easy," I said, eyebrows raised.

"Shut up Bean Sprout and _move_!" Kanda snarled.

He drew his sword and sprinted up the stairs, his long raven hair flying behind him. I shook my head, but activated my Innocence.

"And yet he always yells at me for running ahead," I muttered. "Well, let's go guys, before he dies again."

"Yeah," agreed Lavi, snapping momentarily out of his hormonal daze.

"Right."

At the top of the stairs, we found Kanda actually startled into stillness. Looking around, I could testify that the paintings were, in fact, moving. All of them. Every single one. I thought that maybe I would have finished being surprised by the things that happened in my life as a member of the Black Order. Apparently, I thought wrong, because I was certainly surprised. Even the _sculptures_ were moving, and there was a statue that seemed to be stretching its legs from a rather cramped position.

There was another statue farther down with no arms, and only dressed from the waist down. I remembered reading something about that particular one. I think it was Greek…called the Venus de Milo or something like that. I half expected to hear Lavi comment on how hot the half-naked statue was.

"Where would the Innocence be?" I wondered. "How are we going to find it in all this chaos?"

"We shut our mouths and look!" Kanda snapped. "You three, check down that hall. I'll take this corridor."

And of course, he separated himself from everyone else. One of those days Kanda was going to die because he insisted on doing everything alone. I mean really die this time, unlike those extremely near misses from the past.

No one argued when he took off on his own.

"Allen, Lenalee, check down there like Kanda said," said Lavi. "I think I'm going to check the next wing."

"You're not going alone, Lavi," I said, a little put off that my friend had suggested we leave him alone. Kanda I didn't mind leaving to his own devices, but with Lavi, I was going to speak up.

Lavi chuckled. "Figured you'd say that. But trust me, you won't get far."

"Huh?" said Lenalee. "Why not?"

"Because," said the redhead with a grin. "That's the end of this wing. I studied places like this while training to become the next Bookman. Those halls go to big observation rooms, but they're dead ends. Kanda will be back around here in no time. I'm pretty sure that the Innocence will be in the center of the museum, if it's affecting all of the artwork."

I grinned and shook my head.

"I'm really glad that you're training to be the Bookman, Lavi," I laughed. "It saves us a lot of trouble sometimes."

He smirked.

"What else am I here for?"

None of us thought that there was any need to answer him, because it was beyond a rhetorical question. Instead, we took off together, down the path Lavi had indicated. On either side of us, the paintings shifted and moved, watching us as we ran past them. We passed a marble bust that turned its head to follow us down the hall.

"It'll be in a higher part of security," I heard Lavi mutter.

"This entire place is high security!" Lenalee exclaimed.

"Which is why I said high_er_, Lenalee," replied the apprentice Bookman.

"Guys! Back on track, please!" I said sharply. "We need to find that Innocence. Something this obvious is bound to attract Akuma. We've got to get to it before any Akuma do!"

"Right," said Lenalee, blushing a little.

"Sorry 'bout that," Lavi sighed. Then he got serious again. "Alright, one of the highest level security areas in the museum is a room near the center. It's got the _Mono Lisa_ and _Madonna of the Rocks_. We could try there."

"Let's do it," I agreed.

…

"Where could the damn thing _be_?!" Lavi exclaimed.

We'd checked the _Mono Lisa_ room, like he'd suggested, but we hadn't found anything that proved that the Innocence was there. Kanda had caught up to us as we left the room, swearing and yelling at us for stopping to look at some paintings. Lavi had replied with a pointed barb as to what on _Earth_ could have taken Kanda so long to investigate a dead-end hall. Well, Kanda hadn't known that Lavi knew the hall was a dead end, and was…hm…_put off_ that the Exorcist hadn't told him that before he ran off.

Now I ended up between Lavi and Kanda, feeling like a very flimsy barrier, because anybody who knew Kanda knew that we didn't get along. That swordsman wouldn't so much as blink when he cut right through me to attack Lavi. Lenalee was walking a little ahead of us, very clearly irritated with the levels of testosterone flying through the air.

"You're the Bookman apprentice, so you tell us," I sighed, scratching the back of my neck. Our search had been going on for over an hour already, and we had no idea where our target might be.

"I'm stumped, guys," sighed Lavi. "What about you, Mr. Destroyer-of-Time? Do _you_ have any bright ideas?"

I held up my hands.

"Don't look at me. The only things I know about the Louvre are out of the _Da Vinci Code_ book," I said hastily.

Ahead of us, Lenalee stopped suddenly, and I almost ran into her.

"Something wrong, Lenalee?" I asked.

"I read that book," she said quietly. "A long time ago…I was just remembering something…"

"What?"

"Well…I have an idea of where the Innocence might be," she said, her tone musing.

"Where is it? We don't have all day Lenalee," growled Kanda.

"At the very end of the book, the author was talking about how Mary Magdalene was the Holy Grail. The book said that she was hidden beneath a pyramid…"

I smacked my forehead, feeling entirely stupid. Of course. The author's ideas must have taken shape somehow.

"_La Pyramide __Inversée,_" I sighed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"The Inverted Pyramid?" Lavi checked. "Huh. It's a thought. Anyone know how to get down there?"

"Use the stairs, idiot," said Kanda.

I felt my eyebrow start to twitch, but I suppressed my urge to snap a retort at him. I'd seen a side of him that wasn't entirely unpleasant, and it gave me hope that I might see it again. That wouldn't happen if I lashed out at him every time he made a snotty comment.

Cheers for being optimistic, I guess.


	5. Sacrilege to Bookman Junior

_**Alright, I lied. I've gotten farther in the manga since I last updated, and out of all of the Lenalee pairings, Lenalee and Lavi are by far my favorite. There's a bond there that is incredibly rare, even in canon ships. I love Allen, and that pairing is also cute, but it's also probably my least favorite, even after Lenalee x Kanda. But Lavi and Lenalee is real love 3 Kawaii! However, I vowed to myself that this would not be a romance story .**_

Lenalee's thoughts had some merit, and honestly, I wanted to smack myself for not coming to the same conclusion as her. Where the air in the halls of the museum _had_ felt faintly charged with energy, it was weak in comparison with the atmosphere around the Inverted Pyramid. It was as though lightning had struck, making the tension nearly tangible and the hair on my arms and neck stand up.

"It's definitely here," I said, rubbing the back of my neck in an effort to get rid of the goosebumps.

"No shit, Bean Sprout," Kanda growled. Then he turned to Lenalee. "So, you think it's hidden in that thing?"

"That _thing_?!" cried Lavi indignantly. We ignored him.

"Most likely," answered Lenalee with a nod. "Probably in the very tip, right…here…"

With a slender finger she touched the tip of the pyramid. A blue spark leapt from the point of contact, and she jerked her hand back.

"Yeah, definitely here."

"Great, so we know where it is," said Lavi. "But how can we get to it without completely destr—Yuu, what are you doing?"

I looked back around at Kanda, saw him slide his sword noiselessly out of its sheath, and understood the total horror on Lavi's face. The blade gleamed in both the electric lighting of the building and the pale sunlight filtering in through the skylight, and it was reflected on every polished panel of the pyramid. With a deceptively casual movement, Kanda took the sword hilt in both of his hands, raising it up until the horizontal blade was level with his eyes…and the pyramid tip.

"Kanda, wait—" I said, holding out a hand as if to stop him.

"Yuu, you can't just—" Lavi choked, lunging forward.

"Watch me," Kanda spat.

With the eyes of dozens of tourists on him, and with Lavi reaching futilely to stop him, Kanda's sword sliced through the air. And the pyramid. The sound of glass shattering echoed through the large room, accompanied by screams as people scrambled to get away from the vandal. Kanda stood, quite calmly, amidst the shards of the pyramid's tip. In his hand, a greenish glow emanated from between his fingers.

"You just—" I spluttered. "You—the pyramid—"

"You broke it!" Lavi wailed. "You idiot!"

"Shut up!" snapped Kanda. "We came to get the Innocence, not to polish a pyramid. We got it. I don't care about an upside-down triangle in a museum."

My best friend's look of outrage was on the verge of comical. I would have laughed, if I didn't feel a similar way about what had just happened. Lavi's eye began to twitch spasmodically, and I wondered for a moment if he might actually attack the other Exorcist.

"Guys, let's just get out of here befo—" I started, but a harsh throbbing in my left eye cut me off. Damn, too late. "Kanda! Take the Innocence and go!"

Kanda didn't even pause. He immediately vanished. Usually, his readiness to leave his comrades behind made me want to kill the guy, but right then, I was counting on exactly that. I was glad he had the Innocence, because he would go through Hell and back in order to keep it safe, even at our expense. It caused him no conflict of conscience.

"How many, Allen?" asked Lavi, readying his hammer.

"Three! Two are coming from that direction," I said, pointing to the main stairwell. "The other one is coming through the emergency exit now."

"Got it."

We circled around, backs to each other, and ignored the screams of tourists that were about to become tenfold. Lenalee's boots flashed as they activated. Lavi's hammer extended. My own arm flashed and shifted form.

"Here they come!" I shouted.

And a second later, come they did. They were all level twos, and they hadn't bothered to conceal themselves as regular humans, and my suspicions were confirmed when the shrieking did indeed increase to an almost deafening degree. These weapons, these demons, had been waiting patiently for us to find the Innocence, so that they could take it from us and hopefully wipe us out in the process. Well, not today. Not any day.

"Big hammer, little hammer, grow, grow, _grow_!" Lavi bellowed. The hammer in his hands grew to a massive size, and the ring of seals appeared around it. "_Hi ban_! Fire stamp!"

Lenalee leapt into the air toward the Akuma that had come in through the emergency exit. Lavi's hammer slammed a second Akuma down into the floor, fire exploding from the contact and razing the demon to ash, releasing the soul that was trapped inside. God, but I was glad Lavi was on my side. I'd had to fight him once, when Road Noah had tried to destroy his heart, and that…was not fun. I don't think I could have won, even if I had _wanted _to. That guy scared me more than any Akuma.

Shaking off my irrelevant thoughts, I shifted my arm into a saber. With a roar, I lunged toward the third Akuma, and swept it straight through its body. With an almost metallic sounding shriek the creature exploded into smoke. In the midst of it, the soul of a young boy broke away from the weapon, and ascended to peace.

"May your soul find salvation," I murmured as I straightened.

"Allen, that eye of yours…it freaks me out," Lavi said behind me. I looked at him over my shoulder to see him shaking his head at me. "I don't think I could see that all the time. Do you know I just saw that Akuma's soul break away?"

"Weird, right?" I sighed.

"That's putting it mildly," chuckled Lavi. "Well, let's go help Lenalee."

"Uh, Lavi? I really don't think that she needs it," I laughed, pointing over his shoulder.

He turned to follow my gesture. Lenalee had just landed a ferocious kick to her Akuma's head, and was now standing a little ways away from the black cloud of smoke, all that remained of her opponent.

"That was…easier than I remember it being," I said, somewhat bemused. "I almost died the first time I battle a level two Akuma. Granted, Kanda wasn't exactly a reliable companion."

"You know what they say: practice makes perfect!" laughed Lavi.

"Huh. Guess," I responded with a grin.

"We should probably go find Kanda, you guys," suggested Lenalee.

"Good luck," I snorted. "He's probably already halfway back to the Order."

"Yeah, I'm not too worried about Yuu," said Lavi.

"We've got other things to worry about anyway," I grumbled, looking around at the carnage. _La Pyramide Inversee _had been almost completely demolished in the short battle.

"I vote that we just get out of here," said Lavi, catching Lenalee and I by our elbows and towing us through the emergency exit.

_Dear God,_ I thought, looking back over my shoulder at the wreckage. _Is this _another_ thing I'll have to pay for?_


	6. These Clashes May See No End

_**Alright, so Kanda's nickname was born between the sick sense of humor my friend and I share, along with the fact that, for a while, he really just annoyed the piss out of us**_

Kanda hadn't headed straight for the train station, like we'd suspected. He'd actually gone back to the inn to find Toma, much to everyone's astonishment. We returned from destroying half of the most famous art museum in the world to find Kanda talking to Komui via his wireless golem.

"How's my darling Lenalee?" the scientist cried through the golem. "Is my dear baby sister alright?"

"She's fine, Komui," grumbled Kanda. "Would you just shut up?"

"Now, now, there's no need to be so cold Kandam—" said Komui on the other line.

Lavi and I shared a quick look, and had to clap our hands over our mouths to keep from exploding with raucous laughter. _Kandam_ was a popular nickname for Kanda back at the Order, especially in the science department, and Lavi and I of course weren't excluded from its use. I had no idea how it had escaped Kanda's notice for so damn long, but as all the scientists were still alive and free of sword-related injuries, I would assume that he hadn't yet found out. That is, until Komui slipped just then. Honestly, though, Kanda shouldn't be surprised. All the shitty names _he_ called people, combined with the way he _treated_ people, obviously wouldn't have made him overly popular.

"_What,_" Kanda growled, glaring at the now frozen looks of mirth on mine and Lavi's faces. "Did you just call me?"

On the other end, Komui's voice sounded hasty and flustered. Lenalee sighed quietly.

"Why, Kanda, of course!" laughed the chief. "What else would I call you?"

Lavi couldn't quite contain a snort of hilarity there. He quickly stifled it when Kanda through him a dark look, but his shoulders were still shaking with silent mirth. I wasn't faring much better. My eyes were starting to sting and tear up, and my sides hurt from trying to wrestle down my humor. With a noise of exasperation, Lenalee caught Lavi and I by the backs of our jackets and hauled us out onto the landing outside our room.

"You guys could at least _try_ to control yourselves," she reprimanded.

"We are trying," Lavi choked.

Outside the room, however, we allowed all of our laughter to explode from us in great peals. We clutched our stomachs and each other, tears streaming down our faces. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure why I thought it was so funny at the time to warrant such I reaction, but for whatever reason, I found the whole thing quite hilarious.

But, our hilarity died in the next instant. The door was flung open, and Lavi and I sprang backwards, down the hall. Our laughter dried up in a single moment at the murderous look on the swordsman's face as he stormed onto the landing, dark eyes fixed on us.

"Should I just kill you two now, then?" he wondered, drawing his Mugen. "Or should I ask what Komui really said, first?"

"You heard him, Yuu!" Lavi exclaimed, making a brave attempt at sounding unconcerned. "He just called you Kanda."

"Yeah, what else would he call you?" I wondered. Then I heard Komui saying the exact same thing, and had to fight down a burst of irrational laughter. He must have seen something of that on my face.

"Bullshit," he snarled, readying his sword. "Spill it, Bean Sprout."

"Kanda, that's not—" Lenalee began.

"_Kandam!_" Lavi and I shouted, leaping behind Lenalee and cowering there. "He called you Kandam!"

The Exorcist was quiet for such a long time that I risked peaking through the fingers covering my face. I instantly regretted my curiosity. The expression on Kanda's face was so dark and full of fury that the nearby potted plants in the hall had burst into flames.

"Kanda! Knock it off!" Lenalee snapped, kicking him in the small of his back.

She caught him off guard, so much so that he actually fell over onto the floor. The look on his face then reminded me of when I first met the two of them, and Lenalee had hit him over the head with a clipboard. Priceless.

"Leave them alone," she glowered. "It isn't like they came up with it!"

Actually, it _had_ been Lavi—who felt the need to nickname everybody—who had started the nickname in the first place, but I would never sell him out like that.

Kanda scowled as he stood, eyebrow twitching, but wordlessly shoved his sword back into its sheath with a huff. His expression still suggested that Lenalee may become an only child upon our homecoming, but at least he had stowed his weapon. In an attempt to diffuse the tension, Lavi straightened up and threw out his arms, grinning widely.

"Who wants to go do some lookin' around?" he suggested.

"We need to take the Innocence back to the Order," Kanda snapped.

"C'mon, Yuu, there's not another train coming in til later tonight anyway," Lavi whined.

"Too bad. We're not going sight-seeing, you retarded rabbit. I've already said it," he replied.

"Come on, Yuu, loosen up!"

"That kind of thinking is what'll lose the Innocence. And don't call me that."

"I've always wanted to see the Eifel Tower," said Lenalee wistfully. "I'll just bet the view is amazing."

Kanda's eyebrow started to twitch.

"We're waiting for the first train," he ground our through clenched teeth. "We aren't running around like some stupid group of tourists."

"What else are we going to do while we wait?" I wondered. "I mean, the Innocence is at risk whether we're waiting at the train station or moving through the city anyway, so why not get something out of this trip for us? Plus, it'd be best if we kept moving, don't you think?"

The swordsman turned his lazered gaze on me. I met it without blinking, just daring him to look away first. His dark eyes burned, as per usual, with a dark, dangerous emotion. His dour look did not shift as he met my challenge. Off to the side, I knew that Lavi, Lenalee, and Toma were all complaining about how we were always like this, but I ignored them.

"Will they ever loosen up around each other?" Lavi sighed.

"I think they're more likely to loosen up around the Earl of Millennium," replied Lenalee, and to be perfectly truthful, she was probably right.

"Well, it's annoying," Toma said quietly.

Finally, Kanda let out a sound somewhere between a snort and a sigh and, still scowling profusely, backed away. I hadn't noticed that his hand had drifted back to his sword until it dropped away.

"Do whatever you want," he muttered.

I grinned and turned to the other three.

"So then, the Eifel Tower?"


	7. Together Atop the Eifel Tower

"Well, Lenalee, you were right," I said, leaning over the handrail. "The view is _amazing_."

We had made our leisurely way from the inn, through the streets of Paris, in the direction of the Eifel Tower. We managed to pull Kanda into a small tea shop for a chance to warm up and have some of that hot cocoa that Lavi had been craving. Obviously Kanda wasn't thrilled, but he actually kept his complaining to a minimum while we were there. The music that had been playing in the tiny store wasn't really my speed, but it was quiet enough that I could tune it out. Lenalee, despite all her time in the order, had never been to Paris, which was why she was dying to see everything that it had to offer.

And boy, from the top of the Eifel Tower, you could really see everything. It was amazing to see the entirety of Paris sprawling out below me, covered in a fine layer of powdery white snow. The sun had broken free of the clouds and was shining over the city, reflecting off of the snow until it was far brighter than a summer day. It almost hurt to look around at the refracting light, but I couldn't possibly look away.

Of course Lavi was in love with the view, as was Lenalee. They were both leaning over the handrails as I was, trying to see absolutely everything. Toma stood near the elevator doors, and I couldn't be sure because of the bandages on the lower half of his face, but I was pretty sure he was smiling. More like laughing at our enthusiasm.

Even Kanda wasn't complaining. Granted, he might have just been at the level of irritation where he said nothing, but I think a part of him, however small, was in fact enjoying itself. He stood a little apart from the rest of us, elbows resting lazily on the railing, his chin sitting on top of his interlocking fingers. The wind up there was playing with his long, raven pony tail, and was flicking the edges of his coat around his ankles. I highly doubt he noticed it, but he'd caught the attention of quite a few girls that were up on the observation deck with us. I understood it: he was an impressive figure, I couldn't deny it. He sure as Hell stood out, in a way that made me wonder how he could be so clueless.

"Kanda?" I said cautiously.

He let out a noncommittal sound to acknowledge that he heard me. Well, that was an improvement, I supposed.

"I think you have some admirers," I chuckled, pointing discreetly to the small group of girls that were eyeing the swordsman.

His dark gaze followed my gesture. When the girls realized that he was looking at them, they flushed deep shades of pink and stumbled over each other, trying to pretend that they hadn't been staring. Kanda snorted and turned back to the view of Paris.

"Whatever," he muttered.

"You know, Lavi would kill to get the kind of attention you do," I said off-handedly.

"So?"

"So, you could stand to appreciate things on occasion," I told him, exasperated. "The world really isn't as dull as you seem to think it is."

"Shut up, Bean Sprout," he growled. "I don't need lectures from you."

"My name," I bit out. "Is _Allen_, _Kandam_."

His eyes flashed, and I had only a moment's warning in which I heard his sword being unsheathed, before it was pointed at me. I caught the blade with my left hand.

"Now, now, Kanda," I said. "That's not nice."

"Some day, Bean Sprout, you'll push me too far," he snarled, setting his sword to rest back at his hip.

"Right back at you," I snorted.

He shook his head, then turned away from me. I sighed, and glanced back over at Lenalee and Lavi, who were pointing at something excitedly. I followed their gazes down to the Arc de Triomphe, blanketed in snow just like everything else. Hesitantly I cast Kanda a sideways glance, and nearly choked on a laugh. He was throwing considering glances back over at the group of French girls that had been eyeing him.

"Go say hi," I laughed.

He whipped around and glared at me sourly.

"Don't tell me what to do, Bean Sprout," he snapped.

I held up my hands in the universal gesture for surrender, my lips still twitching uncontrollably.

"Hey, do whatever you want," I chuckled. "But you're allowed to like girls just like any other guy your age."

"We're not here for that," he muttered. He pushed away from the railing. "I'll meet you all at the bottom."

"Hey, c'mon, Kanda. Don't be like that," I said, still smirking.

"I'll be however I want to be."

I caught his elbow as he tried to brush past me.

"Come on, Kanda," I said seriously. "Stay up here with the rest of us. We shouldn't get split up out here."

"Let go of me," he snapped, jerking away from my hand.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my white hair in agitation.

"We'll all head down, then," I decided. "Those two want to see the Arc de Triomphe anyway."

"Oh, yay, another field trip," he grumbled. Then, "Fine. But hurry up."

"Lavi, Lenalee, c'mon!" I called, waving them over. "We're heading down!"

"Already?" Lavi said, disappointment dripping from his tone. He shrugged and led Lenalee through the people on the landing, towing her by her hand.

"Kanda's bored, and he's heading down either way," I sighed. "I didn't think he should go alone."

"Allen's right," agreed Lenalee. I grinned. "We shouldn't get separated."

I glanced over at Kanda, who stood beside Toma, waiting for the elevator. My eyes met his, and he looked away quickly, glowering. I shook my head. Huh. Didn't know it was foolish just to _look_ at a cursed person now. Some things would probably never change, no matter how hard anyone tried to make progress. And I was trying damn hard. It just was not easy by any stretch of the imagination.

"Let's go to the Arc de Triomphe," I said with a grin. "By the time we're done there, we should be able to head down to the train station."

"Great!" said Lenalee excitedly.

"Let's go."

"Hurry up, idiots," called Kanda from the elevator. We all turned to see him stepping into the elevator car, and bolted to pile in before the doors closed. We ended up dog piling Kanda, who lay twitching beneath Lavi, who was beneath me, who was being smothered my Lenalee. Toma had managed to avoid the collision.

"Get off of me you stupid rabbit!" Kanda snarled, shoving Lavi—and by extension, myself and Lenalee—onto the floor beside him. In a tumbling of legs and arms, we landed. It took a moment to get disentangled.

"This was a really long mission," growled the swordsman.

I almost laughed at the sheer irony of what he had just said. Wasn't it me who had been thinking just that at the beginning of the whole thing? I had been convinced that this trip would be long and boring and painful in many ways. But…it hadn't been. It had been way too short, actually, and a lot of fun, even with Kanda. He'd been in a pretty good mood for the mission as well, though it was hard at times to tell the difference.

It made me wonder how he really thought this mission had gone. He couldn't possibly be as against sight-seeing as he kept acting, could he? For a moment, on the tower, he seemed to be enjoying himself. I'd even caught him checking out a couple of girls, which I _never_ expected to happen. It gave me hope that there was indeed more to Kanda than just his stoic, damn the world façade—and it was a façade, I was sure. Was it possible that, with time, all that electric tension between Kanda and myself might just loosen up? Maybe…maybe we could actually become friends?

"Move it, Bean Sprout."

Or maybe not.

**_Well, I can't decide if I should end it here, or tack on one more chapter. What does anyone else think? Oh, and R&R of course ^.^_**


	8. This Huge, Completely Insane Family

"Oi, Kanda!" I called.

He paused at the door to his room. I thought maybe I saw a vein in his forehead jumping, but I hoped that I was wrong.

"What do you want, Bean Sprout?" he bit out, looking over his shoulder at me.

We'd just gotten back from Paris, and Lavi had already carried a sleeping Lenalee off to her own room. For whatever insane reason, my room was near Kanda's, so we had actually walked together through the halls. The whole time, I was trying to decide whether or not to try and talk to him, sort out this entire bitter affair. It wasn't until his hand was on his doorknob that I finally resolved to speak with him.

"I want to ask you something."

"And I have to answer?" he responded.

"Yeah, otherwise there's not much point in me asking," I sighed.

He let out an exasperated breath and turned fully to face me, crossing his arms over his hard chest. I don't think he'd realized that he had dozed off again on the train, or that Lavi had taken advantage of that to braid his pony tail again. I suppressed my amusement in favor of a more serious expression.

"What do you think of the people in the Order?" I asked.

Kanda blinked.

"What do I think of them? I think they're all idiots."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"Why?"

"Who else but an idiot would choose a life like this?"

"Including you?"

Kanda shook his head.

"I'm assuming you don't mean the people here as far as their jobs. You mean them as just people."

"Yeah. No Exorcists, no scientists, no Finders. Just people."

Kanda scowled and raised his gaze to the ceiling.

"Why do you care what I think, Bean Sprout?"

"Because I want to understand. And quit calling me Bean Sprout."

The swordsman snorted in contempt, but I didn't think that his heart was really into it right then. The sneer on his face didn't include his eyes, which looked to be a long ways away.

"Komui's insane, Lavi's annoying, you're abnoxious, Lenalee's the only half-normal person here, Reever's weird, Johnny's—"

"Kanda!" I interrupted. "I already know all of that! What are they to _you_?"

He blinked and focused back in on me.

"What's it matter?" he demanded. "Look, Bean Sprout, I'm damn tired. Quit bugging me and go play with Lavi or something."

He moved to turn to his door, but I caught his elbow to keep him where he was. His entire body stiffened, and when he looked over at me, his dark gaze was blazing with irritation.

"Let go of me, Bean Sprout."

"Give me an honest answer, and I will."

I was determined to hear this. Why? I can't honestly say I know. But it was something I wanted to hear. I knew Kanda wasn't just a cold shoulder with a heart of stone. He might claim to hate me, but he'd saved my life several times over already, and I didn't doubt that there would be similar things happening in the future.

Kanda jerked away from my hand, but he didn't move to escape to his room again.

"What do you want to hear, Bean Sprout? That way I can just say it and you can leave me the Hell _alone_."

"The truth."

He snorted loudly again. I just looked at him, my expression on the verge of a glare. One of his eyes was twitching again, as though the idea of being completely honest with me really pissed him off.

"The truth…" he repeated, sounding almost amused. I nodded.

Kanda shook his head once more, but this time it was as though he did it in defeat.

"To me…you're all incredibly stupid and annoying," he started. I opened my mouth to snap at him, but glared at me and I quickly shut up. "_But_…"

He seemed to be having difficulty trying to find words to express exactly what it was that we all were to him.

"But…This place…You people…" he said, frowning in concentration. It was almost funny to see him thinking so hard. I half expected smoke to start coming out of his ears. "It's…like a family. I think. You all get along like idiots. We all fight, but…But we always…Arg, damnit!"

I raised my eyebrows, not at his language, but at the fact that I'd gotten even that much from him. I had to admit, it was funny watching him struggle for words, but my question had been serious, so I did my best to not look amused.

"We always…end up…End up coming through…for each other," he ground out. "The way we work together here…This is as close to a family as I could have. Happy now? Hear what you wanted to hear, Bean Sprout?"

I blinked, finding myself just kind of staring at Kanda in amazement. Had he really just said what I thought he had said? That he considered this place like a family?

"I'm…not sure…" I said slowly.

"About what?!" Kanda snapped, aggravated.

"About whether I just imagined what I heard," I said, "or if you really just called this place your family."

"Shut it, Bean Sprout. If you're through bothering me with stupid questions, I'm going to bed."

"Good night then, Kanda," I said, still slightly perplexed. His only reply was to snort.

I turned around, willing to bet that he would be in his room with the door locked before I had taken even two steps. So, when I had taken three steps away, I was surprised to hear him call my name. My actual name.

"Allen. I meant you too."

I froze for a moment, then looked over my shoulder. All I saw was the tail of his coat and the end of the braid—gah, still funny—disappearing through the door, and then it swung shut. I felt an amused smile creep across my face. I could empathize with the homicidal swordsman. This place had its ups and its downs. Certain people—ahem, Kanda, Komui—were far from easy to be around. But those same people made up part of a huge family. Even Kanda, who drove me completely insane and never used my name, felt like part of these people that I loved. Like the tyrannical older brother I had never, _ever_ wanted, perhaps, but still a part of this huge, completely insane family.


End file.
